First Name: Kent

Last Name: Monkman

Full Name: Kent Monkman

Date of birth: 1965

Place of birth: St. Mary’s, Ontario

Community/Heritage: Fisher River Cree

Sex: Male

Website: https://www.kentmonkman.com/

Art Media: painting, performance, printmaking, sculpture, installation, video

Bio:

Kent Monkman is a multi-disciplinary Cree artist, working with painting, performance, installation, and video. His work explores and re-examines Indigenous experience and representation, loss and resilience, engendered and colonial hierarchies, and Western art history and production. Monkman frequently inserts his shapeshifting and genderfluid alter-ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, into his work, functioning as protagonist, witness, or mischievous mediator. 

Monkman’s landscapes painted in the 19th Century Romantic tradition - vast and unoccupied - are shown already inhabited by erotic vignettes and tongue-in-cheek anachronisms. Monumental, neoclassical history painting is reconceived as a vehicle for colonial encounters - reservations, residential schools, institutional dismissal of Indigenous women and queer bodies - or as lampoons of the settler frontier. Monkman’s work serves to resist trauma and erasure, and to introduce confident Indigenous mythologies to compete with Western ones.

By assimilating and cracking open the protocols of historical painting and identity, Monkman reverses the colonial gaze, rearticulating and reclaiming the Indigenous body as vibrant, modern, and assured. Provocative, ambitious, sometimes camp and frequently funny, Monkman’s work frustrates Eurocentric and heteronormative histories, and refutes the established narratives of the Indigenous experience.

Major commissions include Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience (2017-2020), commissioned by the University of Toronto art museum in response to Canada’s sesquicentennial year, and mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People) (2019), a pair of monumental paintings produced for the Great Hall in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

Exhibitions and permanent collections include The Met, MBAM, MACM, NGC, Palais de Tokyo, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions:

• 2020: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC 
• 2019: mistikôsiwak: Wooden Boat People, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 
• 2019: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB 
• 2019: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Museum London, London, ON 
• 2019: The Madhouse, Pierre François Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, QC 
• 2019: Kent Monkman: The Rise and Fall of Civilization, The Glenbow Museum, Montreal, QC 
• 2019: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, McCord Museum, Montreal, QC 
• 2019: Another Feather in Her Bonnet, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, QC 
• 2018: The Madhouse, Centre Space (Pierre-Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain), Toronto, ON 
• 2018: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS
• 2018: Miss Chief’s Praying Hands, Project Gallery, Toronto, ON 2018: Beauty and the Beasts, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France 
• 2018: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, The Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, PE 
• 2018: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, ON 
• 2017: The Human Zoo, Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, QC 
• 2017: Kent Monkman, Cummings Arts Centre at Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA 
• 2017: Shame & Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, The Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB 
• 2017:The Rendezvous, Peters Projects, Santa Fe, NM, USA 
• 2017: Kent Monkman | New Works in New York, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, NY, USA 
• 2017: Kent Monkman: A Story of Canada, Centre Space (Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain), Toronto, ON 
• 2017: Shame & Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Art Museum, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON 
• 2016: Scent of a Beaver, University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities, Ann Arbour, MI, USA 
• 2016: The Four Continents, Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, ON 
• 2016: Failure of Modernity, Peters Projects, Santa Fe, NM 
• 2015: The Rise and Fall of Civilization, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, ON 
• 2015: Casualties of Modernity, BMO Project Room, Toronto, ON 
• 2014: Kent Monkman: The Artist as Hunter, Musee d’art contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart, France 
• 2014: Kent Monkman, Sargent’s Daughters, New York City, USA 
• 2014: Welcome to the Studio, McCord Museum, Montreal, QC 
• 2013: The Big Four, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB
• 2012: Miss America, Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, QC 
• 2012: Two Kindred Spirits, Gallerie Florent Tosin, Berlin Germany 
• 2012: Miss America, Centre Space (Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain), Toronto, ON 
• 2012: Miss America, Rodman Hall, St. Catherines ON 
• 2011: The Art Game, Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, ON 
• 2011: L’Atelier, Pierre-Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal, QC 
• 2011: My Treaty is With the Crown, Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, QC 
• 2010: Kent Monkman, Galerie Florent Tosin, Berlin, Germany 
• 2010: Théâtre de Cristal, Context Gallery, Derry, Ireland 
• 2010: The Triumph of Mischief, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB 
• 2010: The Triumph of Mischief, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, BC 
• 2010: The Triumph of Mischief, St. Mary’s University, Halifax, NS 
• 2010: The Treason of Images, Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, AB 
• 2009: House of Miss Chief, Artspace, Peterborough, ON 
• 2009: Dance to the Berdashe, Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Montreal, QC
• 2008: Kent Monkman, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK 
• 2008: Dance to the Berdashe, Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg, MB 
• 2008: The Triumph of Mischief, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB 
• 2007: Théâtre de Cristal, The Union Gallery, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON 
• 2007: The Triumph of Mischief, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON 
• 2007: Hunting Scenes and Other Amusements from the Great North West, Pierre Francois Ouellette Art Contemporain, Montreal 2 
• 2006: Kent Monkman, with essay by Paul Chaat Smith, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Alberta 
• 2005: Share Eagle Testickle: Artist and Model, The Drake Hotel, Toronto 
• 2001: The Prayer Language, The Indian Art Centre, Ottawa 
• 1997: New Paintings, Deleon White Gallery, Toronto 
• 1996: Indian Paintbrush, Independently mounted, Toronto 
• 1994: The Creative Process, Discovery Gallery, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 
• 1994: Creation Wheel, Art Gallery of Hamilton 
• 1994: The Museum Show, Latitude 53, Edmonton, The New Gallery, Calgary, AB 
• 1993: Polarities, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver, BC

Group Exhibitions:

• 2019: Kiss My Genders, Southbank Centre, London, UK 
• 2019: Embodying the Self, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, IL 
• 2019: Of Our Time, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA 
• 2019: Monument Valley, Des Moines Art Centre, Des Moines, IA 
• 2019: Re:Define, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ 
• 2018: Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR 
• 2017: Dioramas, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France 
• 2017: Neo Native: Toward New Mythologies, Sam and Alfred Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, Alta Loma, CA 
• 2017: The Western: An Epic in Art and Film, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
• 2017: Native Fashion Now, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY
• 2017: Two Spirit Sur-Thrivance and the Art of Interrupting Narratives, Never Apart, Montreal, QC 
• 2017: Tous, des sang-mêlés, The Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France 
• 2016: Lucite, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart, France 
• 2016: Native Fashion Now, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK 
• 2016: genderhow?, Carlton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON 
• 2016: Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery & University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, ON 
• 2016: Native Fashion Now, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR 
• 2016: Edward S. Curtis: 100 Master Works, Palm Springs, CA 
• 2015: Wrath – Force of Nature, Wave Hill, New York, NY 
• 2014: Landscape, Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo Japan 
• 2014: Unsettled Landscapes, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico 
• 2014: This is Me, This is Also Me, McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, ON 
• 2013: Fiction/Non-Fiction, Esker Foundation, Calgary, AB 
• 2013: Sakahan: International Indigenous Art, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON 
• 2013: Changing Hands Part 3, Multiple tour dates and locations 
• 2013: Rare & Raw, Leslie Lohman Museum, New York, NY 
• 2013: The Painting Project, La Galerie UQUAM, Montreal, QC 
• 2013: My Winnipeg Project, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, MB 
• 2013: Beat Nation, The Power Plant, Toronto, ON
• 2012: Home on Native Land, TIFF Bell Light Box, Toronto, ON 
• 2012: Changing Hands Part 3, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY 
• 2012: Oh, Canada, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA 
• 2012: Fashionality: Dress and Identity in Contemporary Canadian Art, McMichael Gallery, Kleinburg, ON 
• 2012: Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
• 2012: SKIN: The Seduction of Surface, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS 
• 2012: Beat Nation, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC 
• 2011: My Winnipeg, Musee International des Arts Modestes, Sete, France 
• 2011: Barroco Nova: Neo Baroque Moves in Contemporary Art, The McIntosh Gallery, London, ON 
• 2011: Se Renconnaitre, Espace Virtuelle, Chicoutmi, QC 
• 2011: Purloined Stories, Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto, ON 
• 2011: Calgary Collects, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, AB 
• 2011: An Autobiography of Our Collection, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC 
• 2011: Se Renconnaitre, Espace Virtuelle, Chicoutimi, QC 
• 2011: Steeling the Gaze: Portraits by Aboriginal Artists, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON 
• 2011: Steeling the Gaze: Portraits by Aboriginal Artists, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON 
• 2011: My Winnipeg, Maison Rouge Foundation, Paris, France 3 
• 2011: Kent Monkman and Gerd Rohling, Galerie Michel Rein, Paris, France 
• 2011: Close Encounters, Plug In Institute for Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, MB 
• 2010: Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC 
• 2010: The Beauty of Distance, Sydney Biennale, Sydney, Australia 
• 2010: Remember Humanity, Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam 
• 2010: Unbound Thoughts, James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM 
• 2009: Remix: New Modernities in a Post Indian World, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON 
• 2009: Steeling the Gaze: Portraits by Aboriginal Artists, National Gallery of Canada and The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography 
• 2008: Kent Monkman and Frederick Hagan, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON 
• 2008: Caught in the Act: The Viewer as Performer, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON 
• 2008: Face the Nation, Art Gallery of Alberta, Calgary, AB 
• 2008: Remix: New Modernities in a Post Indian World, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY 
• 2007: Shapeshifters, Time Travellers and Storytellers, ICC and imagineNative, ROM, Toronto, ON 
• 2007: Remix: New Modernities in a Post Indian World, co-curated by Joe Baker and Gerald McMaster, Heard Museum, Phoenix Arizona, and National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY 
• 2007: Confluence: First Nations Art from John Cook’s Collection, Carleton University Gallery, Ottawa, ON 
• 2007: Oil Spill: New Painting in Ontario, Saw Gallery, Ottawa, ON 
• 2007: Crack the Sky, Montreal Biennale, Centre Internationale d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, QC 
• 2006: Salon Indien, Toronto International Art Fair, video installation - booth for Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and Art Gallery of Hamilton 
• 2006: Unholy Alliance: Art and Fashion Meet Again, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, ON 
• 2006: Re-thinking Nordic Colonialism, The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, Finland
• 2005: Hot Mush and the Cold North, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON 
• 2005: The American West, Compton Verney, United Kingdom 2004: “We come in peace…”/Histories of the Americas, Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, QC 
• 2004: First Nations Art 2004, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, ON 
• 2003: The Americas Now, Harbourfront, Toronto, ON 
• 2002: Gridlock, Case Studies, York Quay Gallery, Toronto, ON 
• 2002: Between You And Me, Museum London, London, ON 
• 2002: Thinskinned, A Space Gallery, Toronto, ON
• 1997: Our House to Your House, American Indian Community House, New York, NY 
• 1997: First Nations Art 97, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, ON 
• 1994: Group show, Workscene Gallery, Toronto, ON 
• 1993: The Urban and the Urbane, Bienal de Poesia Visual, Mexico City 
• 1993: First Nations Art 93, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, ON 
• 1992: Native American Art, American Indian Community House, New York, NY 
• 1992: Discovering Ourselves Not Columbus, American Indian Community House, New York, NY 
• 1991: The Toronto Mask Show, Lake Galleries, Toronto, ON

Collections

National Gallery of Canada, Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Museum London, Woodland Cultural Centre, Glenbow Museum, Indian Art Centre, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Canada Council Art Bank, Smithsonian/National Museum of the American Indian, Vancouver Art Gallery, Maison Rouge Foundation, Denver Art Museum, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Awards

• 2017: Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
• 2017: Honorary Doctorate Degree, OCAD University
• 2014: Indspire Award
• 2014: Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award